


Send this to your friend who hates Leon Kuwata...

by snomrights



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-23
Updated: 2020-07-23
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:20:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25470763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snomrights/pseuds/snomrights
Summary: Leon Kuwata is one of the more... hated... Danganronpa characters. I refuse to hear "he's boring" as a reason to dislike him as a character any longer, because he has just as much complexity (if not more) as the staple Danganronpa fan favorites.So - I wrote this essay! (this is what I am using my degree in English for... *sighs*)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 50





	Send this to your friend who hates Leon Kuwata...

**Author's Note:**

> The point of this essay wasn't to convince anyone to like or dislike him; but, I wanted to provide more people with the ability to give his character a chance before making that decision because he is, in fact, well-written (despite popular belief).

Whether people love him, hate him, or have completely forgotten that he existed in the first place: Leon Kuwata is an extremely dividing character in the Danganronpa series. Simply put, there is a plethora of disorientating knowledge floating around on just who he is and what his personality and temperament means in the overarching series. Anyone is welcome to their own opinions or interpretations of his character as it is the very point of character driven plot - which Danganronpa heavily relies upon- however, the amount of pure misinformation for Leon has pushed me to the point of writing this analysis. To me, Leon’s most noteworthy traits that set him apart from the cast are his struggle for bodily autonomy, his inferiority complex, his emotional intelligence, and the undeniable fact that he is gay. I will be exploring just what I mean for each later on in this essay; however, my main overarching point for Leon’s character is that he is not boring and he has more character traits than being an asshole. 

One of Leon’s first notable traits and character flaws is his relationship with his talent, and furthermore, his struggles with controlling his own fate. Being an ultimate is heavily integrated into the core of a Danganronpa character; it is their personality, their backstory, their appearance, their driving force, etc. It is the backbone of what forms their persona and then in turn what shapes that game’s entire cast dynamic. However, the only times when the player hears about baseball is when Leon talks about his disgust for his own talent, and demands that it’s not all that he is good for: “but I wasn't just born to play baseball” (UTDP). The further he discusses his talent, and how he only feels attachment to it for attention, the further apart he grows from the rest of the cast. 

Leon struggles with control as he has never had a real say on who he is and what he wants to be - that has already been decided for him. Early into the game Leon tells Makoto: “It's like mind control! Baseball brainwashed me!” (THH). Leon states, word for word, his relationship with baseball as abusive and restrictive and his ability to simply be himself. He copes through his physical appearance: spiking his hair, growing a beard, getting piercings, dressing punk, etc. He’s adopted a wide variety of defense mechanisms to attempt to reclaim an ounce of control over his body. In another free time event with Leon, he equates the literal entrapment of their killing school life with his mental and physical entrapment in baseball. To express his anger of being locked up, he tells Makoto that the killing game is, “just like having to shave my head right before every baseball game!” When Makoto responds to Leon to tell him that he has a choice in that, he earns a very aggressive response from Leon: “C’mon man! Are *you* against me now, too!?” Leon clearly has no control over his mental or physical autonomy, which he easily spells out for Makoto and the player. 

Secondly, what appear to be Leon's narcissism and inflated ego are actually him covering for his feelings of inferiority and entrapment. As previously discussed, he was never given the option to be anything else other than a baseball star - it's frankly the only thing he's good at. All his true dreams in life have been dismissed by those around him, and all he's ever been useful for are his naturally gifted physical abilities - and so he acts unintelligent and grossly self-confident as a coping mechanism to deal with his insecurities. Upon first introducing himself, Leon explains that his “only path in life is getting into music!” (THH prologue). However, when he begins the journey of opening up to Makoto in his FTEs he attempts to distance himself from his passions. In his second FTE, his sprites grow increasingly more hostile while discussing how intense he is about music; eventually, after a momentary pause, he instantaneously shifts his entire demeanor from his most aggressive sprite to his indifferent sprite and clarifies that this is all for a girl, not for himself. This cycle of realizing that he opened up too far and quickly playing it off afterwards serves as a defense mechanism which only grows in frequency the longer Makoto grows closer to him. 

The way in which Leon’s dialogue is structured also provides insight into his insecurities and need to appraisal. When talking to Makoto, he often thinks out loud to affirm himself, “yeah, they can't just drop someone as good as me! I'm sure they'll forgive me no problem! I mean it's me, right!?”. Leon is not transparent in his motives behind asking this leading question, which are undoubtedly the desire for admiration from Makoto. If he were truly confident and proud of his capabilities he would not need to ask in the first place.Another noteworthy example of this trend in Leon’s speech patterns is when the player first attempts to interact with Leon for a free time activity. Leon is genuinely surprised at the gesture, saying "y-you're not trying to get me alone so you can kill me, are you...?” However, he quickly hides this sign of self doubt with inflated confidence, “my fans will all go psycho on you if you do! I'm as popular as any international superstar!” Eventually, by the end of his ramble, he states, “ **I don't really wanna be alone, anyway...** " In one of Leon’s first lines of dialogue, the player is bombarded with an overwhelmingly rapid cycle of insecurity, a false ego, and a longing for approval. 

A third noteworthy feature is that Leon’s writing encapsulates a realism and emotional intelligence many characters in the series lack. Many of Danganronpa's “real” characters are overlooked in favor of comically large and energetic personalities that play into gimmicks through their ultimates, and in turn the “boring” characters receive a lot of hate. We all know the case of Sayaka’s murder by now, however, it is important to note that I will be using a middle ground of how the manga paints this scenario versus the game: she invited Leon over, she pulled a knife on him and he grabbed a sword in self defense, she locked herself in the bathroom, he broke in, and somewhere in the mix she was killed. However, at a closer look in this case, a lot of points become paramount towards understanding Leon’s character. 

First off, when Leon first entered Makoto’s room with Sayaka for the purpose of finding a way to escape, it is established canon that he reached for the practice sword in self defence. He is an ultimate athlete equipped with a practice sword up against Sayaka who simply has a kitchen knife - if he genuinely wanted to kill her, with or without the practice sword, he could have done so in that minute of heightened adrenaline. Instead, he breaks her wrist to disarm her. He sympathizes with her, he isn’t angry, and he truly just wants her to be safe- out of all the characters in the game, he is the only one willing to give her complex situation and motive any thought. 

Secondly, it is important to assess when and why Leon stayed with Sayaka and broke into the bathroom. Someone he trusted and considered a friend was in the middle of a lethal mental breakdown while she was locked all alone in a bathroom with a knife - in this situation, what would you do? Leon had to make this decision with an immense amount of adrenaline in a split second under extreme pressure; and, due to how vulnerable anyone would be in these conditions, it is a perfect time to observe what truly lies under his “ego.” Leon, who had the full right to be immensely angry, decided to stay with her to calm her down despite the fact that one of his false character traits for him to be hot-headed. He didn’t want her to do anything to harm herself and he wanted to make sure she was safe. He did not call for help for many reasons, one of the most important being that he did not want the students to know that she tried to kill him and hate her for it. When he is left alone in a serious situation without his coping mechanisms, he is genuinely a good person. He acted realistically, selflessly, and honestly far better than I could given the situation. He values the emotions and well being of others so highly, even above his own. I hesitate on calling him a cinnamon roll here because we are talking about murder - but just know what I am thinking. 

The manga and the video-game have different versions of what happens next: in the manga, Leon breaks in to help Sayaka calm down once more and she ends up attacking him again. With one wrong slip (on her part), the knife accidentally impales her. In the video-game, they heavily gloss over this final part of the cast, however, we do know but the final blow was purposeful but in self defense. Whatever happened in the seconds before Sayaka’s death, Leon did not plan on killing her, nor was he lying when he said: “None of you are any different! One wrong step, and you'd be the one standing here!” (THH). The complexities of Leon’s actions in this murder of Sayaka make him, in my eyes, extremely interesting and realistic. He has a high level of emotional drive and complexity that many Danganronpa characters seem to lack. Many fans dismiss characters like him in favor of grandiose personalities that include features such as a rich boy who emotionally abuses women and has long legs.

And, lastly, to end this on something other than a depressive note - I will now cover just how undeniably gay Mr. Kuwata Leon is. Aside from his appearance which is already queer-coded, Leon’s dialogue is filled with not-so-subtle implications about his sexuality. 

During Leon’s first free time event, Makoto asks if Leon enjoys spending time with his teammates. This is a perfectly normal question, and has no intention of testing Leon’s sexuality. However, without hesitation, Leon defends himself, “nothin’ like that! I can’t stand being around a bunch of sweaty guys. So totally uncool!” Not only was this not the question, but Leon continues to talk about girls immediately after. However, he doesn’t discuss who he likes or why he likes them - it’s purely for the purpose of making Makoto jealous, which he literally states, “ya jealous?” If this isn’t overreacting to a simple question I am not sure what is. After this exact discussion, Leon stops being an asshole for a single second and tells Makoto, “lets hang out again sometime! Talking to you helps keep my mind off this place...” And, in response to this, Makoto notes to himself that, “with a smile on his face and a spring in his step, Leon strolled away.” As a man who is attracted to men, that is the gayest interaction that I have ever read. 

After the game in school mode, Makoto and Leon talk again. Makoto asks Leon why he doesn’t tell anyone how he “really feels” about baseball and music, to which the following conversation ensues:

**“R..really? But wouldn’t everyone think I was a total idiot if I told them how I really felt?”**

**“No one would call you an idiot, no one would laugh”**

**“Makoto… thank you.”**

Considering the history Danganronpa has with queer-coding its characters, it is not a reach to assume that this conversation could be hold a subtle implication of Leon’s sexuality. The player has never had such a tender moment with Leon, (and just… this conversation makes me have feelings… let me hold him). Additionally, many of the fanon token LGBTQ+ characters in Danganronpa have just as much -if not less- evidence as this pointing to their sexuality - so checkmate. 

Another conversation that I’d like to highlight is Makoto & Leon’s final event in school mode. With the help of Makoto, Leon reaches the conclusion that he wants to pursue both baseball and music - but this time for himself instead of other’s expectations. Makoto notes that this is one of the first times he had ever seen Leon happy: 

**“It’s an all-new approach, just for me!”**

**“you were there to listen to me all those times. That’s what I think, anyway.”**

**_Leon was grinning from ear to ear. He was beaming…_ **

**_His smiling face, standing there with me, talking about the future..._ **

**Not only does this- in my mind - confirm Makoto’s feelings for Leon, b** ut the subtleties in Leon’s language, “it’s an all-new approach” and “you were there to listen to me,” are phrases that might hit close to home for the LGBTQ+ community, especially around the time-frame of exploring, understanding, and accepting our true identities. 

Now that I have explored the more subtle hints pointing towards Leon’s relationship with his attraction towards men: I will bust out the undeniably gay shit he says in UTDP:

  * Leon and Makoto discuss how “nights get pretty boring,” and get a DVD to watch together. 
  * Leon tells Makoto “way to kill the mood..” implying that there was a mood to begin with
  * “I’m a natural at any game that uses balls”
  * Leon asks Makoto out to a concert
  * Leon tells Makoto he should ditch class so that they can sleep together. No, I am not even exaggerating this one. 
  * “Thank you, Makoto! You’re like my... soulmate!”



(Here is a link to my thread on this: [ https://twitter.com/snomrights/status/1282071524208455681? ](https://twitter.com/snomrights/status/1282071524208455681?))

In conclusion, Leon’s character, complexity, and queer-coding deserve just as much recognition as many other staple characters in the fandom. As an English major who specializes in character driven prose, the best written characters show hints into their true psyche through their actions and words, and it is not told to you in an outright and stereotypical manner. Leon has an immense amount of personality and intricacy as a character if you decide to give him a thorough chance - which, I hope I helped provide you with the drive to do so.


End file.
